Magnanimous

adjective1. proceeding from or revealing generosity or nobility of mind, character, etc.: a magnanimous gesture of forgiveness.2. high-minded; noble: a just and magnanimous ruler.

Quotes

They are magnanimous people, and magnanimity is, fundamentally, the only thing that matters and that gives us distinction here on earth. You know, there are only two classes of people: the magnanimous ones and all the rest; and when you reach my age you have to choose, you have to decide once and for all whom you intend to like and, whom you intend to despise…-- Marcel Proust (1871–1922), translated by Lydia Davis, Swann's Way, 2003

Origin

Magnanimous can be traced to the Latin terms magnus meaning "great" and animusmeaning "soul, spirit, mind." It entered English in the mid-1500s.